Despite the success of bariatric surgery in assisting patients to achieve adequate weight loss, approximately 20 percent of patients experience weight regain following surgery. With this in mind, at this year’s 20th IFSO World Congress to be held at the Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna, Austria, from August 26th – 29th, Bariatric Solutions is pleased to announce that it will sponsor a session “Banded vs. non Banded Procedures,” which will highlight some of the surgical strategies that can help to prevent weight regain.

“Although we know bariatric surgery is successful in helping many patients achieve and sustain weight loss, there are some patients who do present with weight regain,” said IFSO 2015 Congress President, Professor Karl Miller. “We hope that this session will not only provide some much needed data in the effectiveness of non-banded vs banded surgery, but also inform delegates on the most effective techniques and technologies that may help prevent weight regain, and allow patients to achieve and maintain their weight loss following bariatric surgery.”

Chaired by Dr Philip Schauer (USA) and moderated Professor Bruno Dillemans (Belgium) and Professor Gerhard Prager (Austria), the session will be held on 27th August from 10.30-12.00 in the Gartensaal, and will feature presentations by world renowned experts in bariatric surgery who will examine and discuss the strategies and outcomes of numerous techniques and technologies employed to counteract weight regain. In a presentation entitled, “Systematic review and meta-analysis of medium-term outcomes after banded roux-en-y gastric bypass,” Professor Henry Buchwald (Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, USA) will report the first systematic review and meta-analysis focused exclusively on the intermediate-term outcomes for the banded Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (B-RYGB).

Dr Luc Lemmens (AZ Nikolaas, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium) will present “Banded versus non-banded gastric bypass: 434 consecutive patients with a minimum 5 y follow-up,” and the outcomes will include data from two of the best known devices – the GaBP Ring (Fobi-ring, Bariatec Corp.) and Minimizer Ring (Bariatric Solutions).

The session will also witness a presentation by Dr Philip Schauer (Bariatric and Metabolic Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA) who will discuss the outcomes from a study that was designed to compare the outcomes between banded and non-banded LRYGB patients in a single-centre setting (“RCT of banded gastric bypass superior for superobese patients/3 years follow up”).

Revisional surgery will also be assessed and Mr Jody Valk (ZNA Stuivenberg Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium) will present the short-term results from a multi-centre study that examined whether revisional surgery utilising the Minimizer Ring helps to stop weight regain and even leads to increased and durable weight loss after revision of gastric bypass (“Revisional surgery for weight regain or insufficient weight loss after gastric bypass using the Minimizer Ring: Short term results of a multicenter study”).

In addition to B-RYGB, the session will also examine the role of banded sleeve gastrectomy (BSG) and in a presentation “First signs of improved weight loss 2 years after Banded Sleeve Gastrectomy in a matched pair analysis,” Jodok Fink from the University of Freiburg, Germany, will assess the Minimizer Ring’s ability to prevent sleeve dilatation and ameliorate weight loss over time. Also discussing the effectiveness of the banded-sleeve procedure, Assistant professor Harsha Chandraratna (St John of God Hospital, Perth, Australia) will report his centre’s experience of using the MiniMizer Ring (Bariatric Solutions) as an adjunct to sleeve gastrectomy from September 2013 to February 2015 (“Banding is a safe adjunct to sleeve gastrectomy”).

There will also be addition presentations by Dr M Hussein from Lebanon (“Laparoscopic insertion of MiniMizer for the treatment of failed Roux-En-Y gastric bypass”), Dr T Chamany from India (“2 years experience of laparoscopic banded sleeve gastrectomy using GaBP Ring”), and Dr E Avinoah from Israel (“Laparoscopic proximal adjustable gastric banding as a revision operation after failed gastric bypass, and sleeve gastrectomy a historical cohort study”).

“Bariatric Solutions is delighted to sponsor this session that will inform delegates of the advantages of using banded procedures to achieve the desired weight goals for -and minimizing weight regain in their patients who have had, or are considering, bariatric surgery,” said Arno van der Veek, Managing Director of Bariatric Solutions. "We hope this session that will help put banded bypass and banded sleeve on the agenda and look forward to welcome attendees of IFSO 2015 to this session, in which they will discover new methods to improve their gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy outcomes.”